(a) By invitation, Adrian Hardy (Public Transport Manager, Passenger Transport Service) of Central Bedfordshire Council will attend the meeting to discuss bus user liaison.
(b) A505 bypass safety review: further to the Council resolution of 4 April 2022, to note that correspondence was sent to Cllr I Dalgarno of Central Bedfordshire Council on 14 April 2022 and to receive any update (if applicable).
(c) High Street: further to the Council resolution of 4 April 2022, to note that correspondence was sent to Cllr I Dalgarno of Central Bedfordshire Council on 29 April 2022 and to receive any update (if applicable).
(d) To consider any matters relating to highways/transport (if appropriate).
Minutes:
a) By invitation, Adrian Hardy, Public Transport Manager at Central Bedfordshire Council attended the meeting. The committee was advised that all local authorities had been required to submit a Bus Service Improvement Plan to the Department of Transport in Autumn 2021 and that Central Bedfordshire Council had been notified of an indicative award of £3.7m funding. £2.2m of this was for capital projects and £1.5m for revenue projects. Initiatives were expected to include investment into passenger waiting and information facilities such as bus shelters and provision of real time bus information, as well as possible traffic signal enhancements to give buses priority. It was hoped that service enhancements would include the extension of some routes for longer hours, i.e. into the evening and that a system for cheaper and simpler fares across the area could be developed. This might include a multi-service ticket with zoned areas as well as daily, weekly or monthly tickets.
Central Bedfordshire Council had now put forward more detailed proposals to the Department of Transport and awaited confirmation that the proposed schemes could go ahead.
The committee was advised that the local authority was working with one of the developers of the Leighton Buzzard eastern urban extension to review public transport across the whole town. It was intended that S106 developer contributions be used to make changes to services to include the new developments and to support services at this early stage until there were sufficient numbers of residents to make services commercially sustainable. The emphasis would be on getting the services right before considering investment into vehicles.
Further to the discussion at Council on 4 April 2022, Mr Hardy was asked about bus user/public transport user groups. There were some groups in existence for specific areas and these were independent. However, there was an aspiration to create a pan-Bedfordshire passenger advisory group so there was potential for local groups to feed into this. The larger group would be run in conjunction with Luton and Bedford Borough councils and would help raise awareness of any issues as well as getting feedback from bus users on the Bus Service Improvement Plan.
Mr Hardy also advised that an enhanced partnership was being set up with the three local authorities and the main bus operators, but that there was opportunity for other stakeholders to feed in views. A bus user group could be considered a stakeholder along with organisations such as health authorities and colleges.
The committee was advised that anyone could set up a bus user group, which should be an independent voice although Central Bedfordshire Council was happy to help or support where possible. It was felt that the group would need to feel heard and that it was making a difference to encourage people to participate. The question was asked as to why the bus companies themselves were not seeking user feedback more pro-actively given that they had responsibility for commercial bus routes (not the local authority).
Mr Hardy was thanked for attending the meeting and for the information.
RESOLVED for the Chair of the Committee and the Town Clerk to meet with the Transport Officer of the LB Society to consider next steps in relation to bus users and to report back to a future meeting of the committee.
b) The committee noted that there was no update further to the correspondence sent to Councillor I Dalgarno of Central Bedfordshire Council on 14 April 2022 in respect of the A505 bypass safety review.
c) The committee noted that there was no update further to the correspondence sent to Councillor I Dalgarno of Central Bedfordshire Council on 29 April 2022 in respect of Leighton Buzzard High Street.
There were no further transport matters for consideration